TROUTBITTEN
Fishing Wild Rivers
For Wild Trout
Refining Techniques That Build Experiences
This Is Troutbitten
THE LATEST
Fish and Film Videos
The Fish & Film series is coming to Troutbitten in August. This video series is the fruition of a project we’ve been working toward for two years.
From POV shots to tactics talk, from dry flies and small streams to big streamers and heavy current, we want to show what it’s like on the river, day after day. The flies, the weather, the dog, the travel, the moods — every video in this series is here to tell the story of a life on the water.
Recommended Gear Updates
The popular Troutbitten Recommended section is larger than ever and separted into multiple pages. This collection now includes selections from the Troutbitten crew, Austin, Bill, Matt, Trevor and Josh, so there’s more of our favorite stuff than ever.
You can access all of these pages through the top menu under “Best Gear” or click HERE.
One-On-One Sessions
Virtual, private Troutbitten classes are here. These one-on-one skills sessions are held in our Troutbitten virtual studio, where we record the Troutbitten podcast. Skills sessions are tailored to fit, for whatever you want to learn. These one or two hour sessions are recorded, and you’ll have a video of our meeting in return.
Find the One-On-One Sessions page in the top menu under “More,” or click HERE.
TROUTBITTEN ARTICLES
Welcome to Troutbitten.
Since 2014, I’ve published over 1000 stories, commentaries, tips, tactics and reviews.
As the Troutbitten Project has grown branches, these articles continue to be the heart and soul of my work. Some of these writings are organized in series form, where a group of articles reads like chapters in a book.
Adding to this collection of articles and sorting them, so you can find what interests you most, is an ongoing work. Please visit the Troutbitten Articles Page to begin.
Thanks for being here, and thank you for your support. Fish hard, friends.
— Domenick Swentosky
TROUTBITTEN ARTICLES
Welcome to Troutbitten.
Since 2014, I’ve published over 900 stories, commentaries, tips, tactics and reviews.
As the Troutbitten Project has grown branches, these articles continue to be the heart and soul of my work. Some of these writings are organized in series form, where a group of articles reads like chapters in a book.
Adding to this collection of articles and sorting them, so you can find what interests you most, is an ongoing work. Please visit the Troutbitten Articles Page to begin.
Thanks for being here, and thank you for your support. Fish hard, friends.
— Domenick Swentosky
Learning To Lead Nymphs On A Tight Line System
Our skill for leading the nymphs through a good drift and aiming for perfection is what puts trout in the net more predictably than any other approach.
PODCAST: The Ethical Angler — What Does That Mean? — S13, Ep3
In this podcast episode, the Troutbitten crew holds a philosophical discussion about ethics in fishing. It’s not a list of concrete examples or rules. It’s an interesting, thought provoking conversation.
The Hop Mend (with VIDEO)
We mend to prevent tension on the dry fly or the indicator. All flies could drift drag free in the current if not for tension from the attached leader. So it’s our job to eliminate or at least limit that tension on the tippet and to the fly.
This Hop Mend is an arch. It’s a steep and quick half-oval. It’s a fast motion up, over and down with the fly rod. It’s powerful and swift, but not overdone . . .
PODCASTS
The Troutbitten Podcast launched in the fall of 2021, and it quickly became the most popular independent fishing podcast on the charts.
While in season, the podcast publishes once a week, and there are four seasons each year.
Troutbitten Podcasts seasons follow two formats.
In the first format, a full panel of my best fishing friends covers a topic in the wide world of fly fishing for trout. These free-form episodes with the Troutbitten crew are uniquely entertaining and deeply informative.
In the second format, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me to break down one specific topic in a multi-episode exploration of advanced tactics. These seasons are part of the Troutbitten Skills Series.
Visit the Troutbitten Podcast Page to find them all . . .
PODCAST: Dry Fly Skills Series #5 — All About the Flies — S12, Ep5
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are...
PODCAST: Dry Fly Skills Series #3 — Casting and Mending — S12, Ep4
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. Our discussion here is about casting dry flies, and that’s where all good fly casting starts. With a...
PODCAST: Season Twelve Intermission — Catching Up With Leader Sales, Videos and Plans
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. For our Season 12 Intermission, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on...
TROUTBITTEN VIDEOS
The Troutbitten YouTube Channel began in 2017. But I took it to the next level in 2020, by partnering with my friend, Josh Darling of Wilds Media, to film a video that is still one of my favorites — The River Doesn’t Owe You Anything.
In 2022, Josh and I committed to publishing every other week, and I’m excited to bring his artistic and deeply professional video production to some of the ideas and stories that I’ve wanted to share for years.
Troutbitten videos currently feature the Tips Series, Fly Fishing the Mono Rig Series, and Gear Reviews. Who knows what’s coming next . . .
Visit the Troutbitten Videos Page to watch them all . . .
VIDEO: The Lagging Curve Cast — Dead Drifts for Days (Fly Casting Skills)
The Lagging Curve is a beautiful way to provide slack to a dry fly, and it’s my favorite way to get perfect dead drifts to a dry fly in rivers. I fish a lagging curve at just about any angle, using both a forehand and backhand cast, and it provides slack to a dry fly for days.
The lagging curve is really the opposite of what most people mean by a curve cast. This is an underpowered curve and not a power curve.
The leader design matters a lot, and so does the casting stroke. I cover it all in the video . . .
Fish and Film — Home Waters – Terrestrial Dries and Terrestrial Nymphs (VIDEO)
Fishing is a story . . . On a summer morning of fishing, I fish terrestrials in two different ways — first as a dry fly and then as a nymph.
The concepts of terrestrial fishing are largely centered around the dry fly. And I show that in the first half of this video. Target the edges and fish some of the middle stuff along the way. But the terrestrial fishing mindset — the concepts and strategies — are effectively taken over to a nymphing rig as well, often producing more and larger trout.
VIDEO: Mono Rig Mods — All the Adjustment for a Versatile, Hybrid System
My friends and I don’t go fishing with our mind set on a certain tactic. We let the trout make those decisions, and we’re ready for anything. The Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig is the perfect tool for such an approach.
. . . It’s a versatile tool. It’s a hybrid system. And to maximize those options, simple adjustments are necessary. This video shows those adjustments in detail . . .
Leaders, stickers, hats, shirts canvases and more.
The Troutbitten Shop features logo-branded apparel and hand-tied leaders in all our favorite formulas.
GUIDED TRIPS
Guided fly fishing trips on central Pennsylvania’s best waters.
With an emphasis on education, Troutbitten trips are tailored toward your goals, your skill level and your interests. It’s your adventure.
These limestone spring-fed rivers are full of of wild brown trout that teach the right things.
No setups. Just wild trout in wild places.
Visit the Troutbitten Trips page for more.
SUPPORT
Troutbitten is an independent resource for all anglers. To help support this project, please consider the following.
— Make purchases through ads, through affiliate links. and on the Recommended Gear page
— Visit the Troutbitten Shop
— Donate directly to the Troutbitten Project